After the walled garden coming to the desktop operating system world, we're currently witnessing another potential nail in the coffin of the relatively open world of desktop and laptop computing. Microsoft has revealed [.pptx] that as part of its Windows 8 logo program, OEMs must implement UEFI secure boot. This could potentially complicate the installation of other operating systems, like Windows 7, XP, and Linux.

Say what you will about RMS and label him as an extremist all you want, but the man has consistently been proven right over the years. "The Right to Read" (Kindle, e-books, DRM, remote book deletions), GPLv3 and software patents being the next big battleground (witness the current mobile patent wars), treacherous computing (current crop of smartphones, Apple and now apprently Microsoft), and these are just off the top of my head.

This new move of Microsoft shouldn't really be all that surprising though, they've been trying to push this sort of architecture for years. In the past it's been known as Palladium, which then morphed into the Next Generation Secure Computing Base when the former name accrued too much bad press, and now we have this, which as far as I can tell has no name at all (always learning, Microsoft...)

Yep, just keep on rewarding these companies with your money, I'm sure nothing bad will happen.